Awe and Elevation

Awe and elevation are self-transcendent emotions, possibly triggered by witnessing acts of human moral beauty or virtue and often giving people the desire to improve themselves and work toward the greater good.

This is another area with rather light coverage from the PPND authors.

Jon Haidt and Dacher Keltner were the primary authors of Chapter 23, which describes the character strength, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence [Awe, Wonder, Elevation]. Jon Haidt has made the Beauty and Excellence chapter available on the Web.